This is an interesting link I found a while ago. If you are at all a Mac enthusiast (like us) then you might be interested. It’s an hour long TV show about the Mac from TWENTY years ago! The clothing and hair-dos alone are worth clicking the link… 🙂 But, besides that, it’s pretty fascinating to see how much we could do back then, and how little we could do! Crazy!

So here are a few links:
Stream The Video…
View ALL available video format links

Argh!!! These people make me so crazy! Why do some people think we can solve all the world’s problems through more regulations and oversight?

Yes, the story of the little boy who died on a Disney ride is sad, but it does not mean that we need to slap lots of legal requirements on all theme parks. What is it about our country that loves rules so much???

Read more here:

Disney Death Spurs Calls for Oversight

A few years back, we were planning a return trip to Colorado. We loved our first visit out there, it was just way too short! We pounded out more gigs than we had days there if I recall. Crazy! But every one of them was great, and we met some great people along the way as well.

So, one year later, I began calling and e-mailing to put together a return trip. My first course of action is to call the folks who specifically invited us back. They said, “Just call and let us know when you are coming again!” So, I did.

After a week or two, with no response to my calls or e-mails, I thought, “I guess I should try again!” So, I did.

Being a few years ago, I do not recall the specific order of the events, but I tried several times up front (this was the fall of 2002, only months after we had been there earlier that year) and then had to take a break as it was the Christmas season – our busiest season of the year.

When the new year rolled around, the Colorado trip entered my mind again, and my jaw just about hit the floor as I remembered that I had not heard from anyone about this trip. NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON. These were people who wanted us to come. Really! They did! These were people we kinda knew. Not just random, blind-call strangers. Whoa. That was weird.

So, I tried again. 🙂

Guess what happened? NOTHING! Not a single response. When I called, I left messages. When I e-mailed, I heard nothing in return. Nothing. Very strange.

It was at this point that I finally had a thought. “Hmm… what if God is trying to tell me something?” (How about that for paying attention?) 🙂 So, I told him, “OK… I’ll try one more time, and if there’s no response still by Friday, we’ll do something else.”

You have to recall, at this time, that was our only income. We were newly on our own (with no support financially from a church or any other source of income) and gigs were the only way I knew that God would provide… or so I thought at the time. And, at this point we were only weeks away from when I planned for us to leave! So, saying to Him that if nothing works out I would “do something else” was a bit scary. Not many places would be available for gigs… how would we pay the rent?

I did trust him, so I waited.

You probably have guessed already what happened that week. Yep! Nothing! Not a single response. I couldn’t believe it!!! It was nuts! But something else happened later that week. I started thinking of a TON of places that had asked us to come, but we never got around to following up on that because they were all scattered about in random places. That did not make it easy to plan a smooth tour to visit them like our Florida trips or West Coast trips. But these places were a very strong thought in the front of my brain, so I started writing them down.

As I was putting these dozens of places down on paper, I realized this was what God wanted us to do instead. I could tell that was from him. So I stopped and made sure that’s what he was saying, and he confirmed as much in me. So, that Friday that I agreed to go a different way if nothing happened – and nothing had – I kept my word. I said to God, “OK, we’ll go with your plan!”

Not an hour later, the phone rang. It was Rick from a church in Colorado. He called to say how busy he had been and that he was so sorry he had not been able to call back. Then he asked when we were coming out, and told me he wanted to plug us in wherever he could when we were out there.

And I laughed!

I told him most of the story, and he agreed with me that perhaps God had something different in store for us. Something better. So, I told him we would call again another time, but for now, we needed to check out this other avenue.

To further and finally confirm that God was behind all of this, I called a few of the places that had come to mind earlier. We were only weeks away from the now open weekends that I was calling about. That is definitely not enough advance warning for most of the places I was calling. But, as you may have already guessed, every place I called was not only excited to have us come, they needed us to come in two weeks. Within only a few days I had filled a calendar that I was trying for months to fill according to my own grand schemes. Amazing.

So, God just absolutely closed the door. Completely. I wish he was always that clear. But even still, as all of that fell together, we were not really sure why not Colorado? It seemed like a fine plan to us? When looking back on the whole time later, we also noticed that because we had not left for a big chunk of time as we were planning to do, God dropped a house in our laps! Right next door to some great friends of ours and in perfect condition, at a price we couldn’t afford, but somehow were able to… again… amazing.

We had great plans, but God’s were greater.

So. Flash forward a little more than two years later. Here we are again. God continues to lead, providing means of income where I can certainly not take the credit. Leading us every step of the way. But at the moment, we are in the middle stage of the Colorado Effect.

God has closed the doors, and as yet we are not certain what he wants us to do. Money is so tight that we are consistently late on bills now. Not so late that we are getting calls or anything. Just… late. The money always comes in, and we so far always pay our bills, just not according to our schedule.

The best part was, a few weeks back I had this awesome idea! I took a look at the boxes and boxes of CDs that were sitting over in the corner of my office and I thought, “Those need a home!” I thought of all the people who love our music, and how they might want to help us out by buying a bunch of our CDs at a lower, bulk rate so that they could either give them to friends or even resell them for a small profit. I made an awesome web page that people could use, and presented it as a Memorial Day Sale that made it a festive, fun occasion.

The entire time I was putting this project together, God was gently saying, “It’s going to be just like Colorado.” I said, “I don’t CARE! I need money! This is a GREAT IDEA! I’m going to DO IT!”

Still, the quiet thought persisted, “It will be just like Colorado.”

So, by about 2:00am that night, I finally accepted that truth. I still told God that I needed to do it. I just needed to finish it and watch his prediction come true. I just had to.

So, I did.

And, by now you most certainly have guessed what happened. And again, you are correct…. NOTHING. Not a single response to my webpage and fancy e-mail. Not one, “Hello!” or, “Good idea!” or, “Hope it goes well!”. Nothing. We always get at least a handful of responses to our e-mails. This time, none.

By now, I was able to laugh with God and share the story with Jen of what He had told me. But I remain in the dark about what he really wants me to do. I can only continue on the path I am on until he lets me know a different way. I know he will. I look forward to discovering his better idea. 🙂

Have you been there? Have you had God completely stop you from doing some good thing you were trying to do? There was nothing wrong with our Colorado trip, or my cool Memorial Day Sale idea… God just definitely didn’t want that to happen. He had something better.

There was a time in Acts that Paul and his friends were traveling around telling people about Jesus and life in God’s kingdom, and God kept stopping them from going to a certain place they wanted to go. What? Why would he do that? Why would he stop them from telling people about life in Him?!?? After several attempts foiled by God, Paul had a vision of a man in another region asking them to come help. They knew that was from God, and went there immediately and were able to do some great things there.

Their original plan was not bad, God just had a better one.

Sometimes he says no. Sometimes he shuts the door. That almost always is at least annoying, sometimes it’s downright maddening. But as we learn to trust Father’s goodness, and his complete and unconditional love for us, we can see past the frustration and closed doors to the bigger scope of God’s plan. He has something more, something better. I am not completely there, but oh how I long to be. To live so free that I know every closed door, no matter how hard it seems, is really an open door to something even better.

Even better than Colorado.

Don’t you think that it’s interesting that there are late fees charged by services and creditors? And that banks charge fees for “insufficient funds”? Shouldn’t they actually cut you some slack, maybe even give you money instead of taking it if you have “insufficient funds”?

Makes sense to me…

🙂

I have just been finding it interesting that when money is more tight than usual, and bills are paid later because of that, I actually have to pay MORE money because of the tardiness. AND, if my bank account has a low average balance, I am charged for not having enough money! (Even as I type that it makes me laugh!)

Oh well.

“At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree
   On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me
 Were atoned by his blood, and forever washed white
   On that beautiful, scandalous night”

Lyrics from a popular worship song some years back now. We heard the song again this past weekend at an event where we were also singing. So, this morning, I was singing that chorus (above) in the shower, and I thought about the finality of what Jesus did on the cross. The words of the song say, “were atoned by his blood, and forever washed white,” and that’s what caught me. That mysterious word “forever”. We talk about it like it was another measurement of time, just as a minute or a second or even a year or a decade or perhaps as preposterous as the concept of a millenium. Who among us has experienced a millenium?

Do you remember when you were a child, and your parents would require you to wait for something you desperately wanted (perhaps some ice cream, on a hot summer’s day?). They might have said something like, “Yes, Johnny, you may have some ice cream, but you need to wait about five minutes.” We had no concept of what five minutes was! To us, five minutes was the same as 5 seconds, or 5 hours! (Often, our parents may have taken a bit of an advantage of that, knowing that to us 10 minutes could just as easily pass as five…) 🙂 So, after waiting for what we then may have deemed an eternity, we got our ice cream. And we learned a bit about the concept of time through experience.

Then do you recall the long trips to visit relatives? A twelve hour car ride was not even fathomable to a 7-year old kid. Every so often then, the question would inevitably make it’s way from the back seat to the tired ears of the adults in the front, “How much longer?” And no matter what the parent might choose to say, or how they might describe it, how could they convey the meaning of “About another 5 hours”? If that same child can barely grasp the concept of 5 minutes, how will they understand 3000 minutes?

But God says forever. Forever he will be with us. Forever we will live with him. Forever our sins have been forgiven.

And as if that were not mind boggling enough, consider the moment of our forgiveness. Does forever begin from the point in which we accepted Jesus’ offer of forgiveness? Does it begin the moment we emerged from the waters of baptism? Does it begin at our conversion, and then re-begin with each confession of ongoing sin?

The song suggests (and correctly, so) that it begins at the cross. We can not fully understand the ways that God works in and out of time, as he is definitely on a different plane than we. But, we can see that from Jesus’ own mouth, the work of forever forgiveness was completed at the time of his death. Just before he died, he says, “It is finished.” Did he mean his struggle? His life? Perhaps he was frustrated that the plan had failed? No. Jesus knew the end result. He knew that my forgiveness was taken care of – finished – at that moment in time. The whole thing gets weirder if you try to grasp the idea of Revelation 13:8 which talks about Jesus being killed before the world was made, or Ephesians chapter one where we are called “holy and without fault in his eyes” before the world was made. Yes, God definitely interracts differently with time than we do.

But revisit with me the idea from the top of this post. We are atoned by his blood and forever washed white. (Nevermind that the actual event occurred during the day, rather than the night. Just chalk that up to poetic license.) It was not a moment of my decision, or my will, or my effort, or my accomplishment by which I was “washed white.” It was not anything I did. That could not be clearer from scripture. It was instead an act of love and mercy and grace done by our measurements of time around 2000 years ago, but effecting eternity. Eternity future, and I believe eternity past. (From the verses mentioned above regarding the whole thing being done before the creation of the universe.)

Acts says that there is no other name by which we will be saved. And Jesus said he is the way to the Father, that there is no other. So what about all the people in Hebrews 11 who are declared righteous by God for their faith? Did they earn righteousness somehow that we can not? No, Jesus said quite clearly that he is the only way to the Father. So perhaps his death that occurred at a very specific time in our history was actually efffective even before it happened? When dealing with concepts like eternity, what in the world does it matter if it’s eternity forward or backward. Both are equally out of reach of our experience and intellectual comprehension.

The song reminded me that there is so much about our Father that I could never possibly understand, even with an eternity to learn from Him. But, it also reminded me that I really need to stop trying. To let him work in me the things that he is longing to do. Release the pressure of getting it right, or not messing up again and know that on that one “night” (day) in history, I was forever washed white. Forever.

What a concept.

I mowed the lawn today. I actually really, really enjoy that. It’s a definite change from what I normally do. It’s solitude. I usually listen to an audio book on the iPod as I do it, so my mind is engaged. (or, at times, silence is preferred, and that too is a wonderful break.) And after about an hour and a half, I have gotten a decent workout pushing the whirring lawn mower up and down hills and around trees back and forth all across our .25 acres of land — and it looks nice! That’s the bonus, the icing on the cake.

So, it was a nice start to the morning, and great timing! We have had lousy weather for the past 10 days (or more?) here in Palmyra. Sun beating down, temps in the high 80s to even low 90s. And dare you say that is not hot, do recall that the humidity is somewhere near the 100% level. 🙂 We finally had to install our window-mount air conditioners this week (which we were trying to not do all summer due to cash flow) because Alex was running a high fever and a little nauseous, seemingly due to the extreme heat.

Today was to be a welcome relief temperature wise (only in the mid 60s, and overcast!) but the forecast called for RAIN. The two days we get a break in the temps, we get rain all day! Well, I took my chances, as it was not raining at the time, and got the last swatch of land mown as the drops began to fall! I am typing this now on my porch listening to the calming sounds of light summer showers. Beautiful!

I love this weather!

We are definitely all different, eh?

Well, you may have noticed that yesterday’s story had a sort of abrupt conclusion. That’s because I wrote the last two or three paragraphs while running back and forth to the bathroom.

You see, when you have a tooth pulled, there is some amount of bleeding that occurs.

(WARNING: if you don’t like stories about blood, go on with your day now. If you’re OK with a little bit of such detail, you may continue.)

Well, I had been changing the gauze just fine from my roughly 2:30 tooth removal until about 4:30. That’s when I started noticing a different taste in my mouth. So, now instead of every half hour, I was changing the gauze every 7 minutes or so. And it just wouldn’t stop.

So, I laid down on the bed to see if relaxing would help. Nope. Actually, it seemed that the blood flow was increasing. That was slightly unsettling, so I called the doctor’s office. THEY HAD GONE HOME! Argh. Next I called the doctor’s home number which he had put on the brochure he gave me.

“Hello?” came the voice of a child.

“Hi, my name’s Greg Campbell.” Have you ever tried to speak with a piece of gauze in your mouth while blood is dripping out of your tooth cavity? I attempted to continue, “I had a tooth pulled today by [This Doctor]. Is this his home?”

“Yes, but he’s not here. Can I take your number?”

“Sure. That would be great.”

We exchanged information, and she assured me he would return home shortly. In the meantime, I went back to the bed to lie down.

About an hour later, no call from the doctor, but two more calls by me to some other folks I was nearing the end of my bag of gauze and there did not seem to be any end in sight to the bleeding. So, I was about to just go to a hospital, as I was beginning to feel a bit shaky or something.

Finally, the phone rings – it’s the doctor. He goes through some stuff with me, himself clearly agitated. I am trying to calmly explain what’s been going on, but he keeps interrupting me telling me to calm down. That confused me a bit. I found out later that he had a high school function for his middle son to attend that evening. So, his mind was sort of elsewhere.

After a bit of discussion, he says, “Well, why don’t you meet me in the office. How long does it take you to get there?”

“Twenty minutes.”

“OK, I’ll see you there then.”

And with that, I gathered up my last gauze and headed out the door.

Now, I’m not one to panic, nor am I one to bother other people with something I could probably do on my own. But, this thing was not stopping. In fact (this is the grossest it gets…), as I was driving, the blood was coming out so fast it started to come out of my mouth. It was like the movies! So I had to change the gauze while driving.

I put a couple more pieces in and asked God to make that last as long as possible. It did alright. The good doctor arrived shortly after I did, and we went right into his office.

He had me spit out the gauze and cleaned it out a bit in there, then he muttered something about why it hadn’t stopped, and told me, “I’m gonna get you sutured up. That should definitely stop it.”

I thought, “Whatever you say, Doc. Just stop this crazy bleeding.”

So, he numbed me up with more novocaine (twice in one day!) and then started sewing. 🙂 After not too long, he had tightened the place up and stuck more gauze up in there, and sent me on my way with another pack, saying I should be just fine now.

Well, he was mostly right. The bleeding had DEFINITELY slowed. That was nice. But it would not stop! Finally, I tried the tea bag trick. If you suck on a warm tea bag, it releases tannic acid while applying pressure, which is supposed to aid in the clotting. I think perhaps it did, because it seemed to be a lot less after that, and I even got to sleep with no gauze in the mouth. (I was hoping that would be the case.)

So, this morning arrived and I was not bleeding anymore, and I was happy to finally be past that part.

Now to get used to a mouth with one less tooth…

I sit here, a bit in shock after the amazingly fast tooth removal I just witnessed. Actually, that part sort of amazed me as well. I figured when they yank something out of your tooth that they would have to knock you out. Nope. Just a bit of novocaine administered by an aggressive, experienced (and hurried?) oral surgeon.

(Footnote: I learned a new word today… Maxillofacial. Go ahead, take another look. It’s not easy to say the first time. It means anything below your nose and above your neck. This guy was an oral and Maxillofacial surgeon. Cool.)

When I arrived, I was given the customary warm greeting from the lady behind the counter. (Wouldn’t you think the more people-person oriented would want to be a receptionist?) And, after I was processed administratively, I was sent to the waiting room for the once again customary 30 minute wait. No trouble here, as I found some fascinating articles in the latest issue of Discover Magazine to peruse.

When my time came, I was ushered to a nice, peaceful little room with a large red recliner. Of course, in the midst of the tranquility were anesthesias and rubber gloves and remnants of jobs performed earlier in the day, not to mention the tray of large, sharp metal tools displayed only inches from where my head would rest. That was comforting.

After only a few moments, a nurse arrives with most of a smile and asks me if I brought X-Rays. I told her I forgot mine at home, and she offered to take a photo of my teeth for only $19.95. I couldn’t pass up that kinda deal, so I accepted.

She quickly photographed my pearly whites and returned with a 2″ x 2″ black and white of my upper left jaw. They were beautiful. They were also quite full of metal. 🙂 I have not been the best caretaker of my mouth over the years, I don’t think……..

I began to ask a few questions about the procedure and she quickly silenced me with, “The doctor will explain everything when he arrives.” Feeling put in my place, I offered no further queries, and just relaxed in the recliner, waiting to find out what in the world they were going to do to me. I mean, teeth are pretty secure in your head, aren’t they? How were they proposing to remove this tooth anyway?

A few minutes later, in strolls the doctor. He’s a bit older than me, pleasant smile on his face, yet he had quite a professional air about him. He said hello, and we exchanged names, and I barely let him enter the room before bombarding him with how-to questions about the upcoming procedure.

He graciously answered my questions, and explained to me that the tooth removal was quite ordinary and would take all of five minutes. WHOA! Five minutes?! Crazy. But, he sounded as though it would be quite routine.

I asked a few more questions and finally said, “I guess I watch too much Discover Channel or something.”

He replied, “Yes. You sound like me… what is it you do?”

“I am mostly a musician, though recently I have been doing a bunch of graphic and web design work. I do many creative sorts of things.”

“Ahh. You must have a large left brain.” he commented.

I affirmed his conclusion, only later did I recall that in fact the creative types have large right brains. Was that a test? Did I fail? Probably not.

So, after numbing me up with a couple hastily administered shots of novocaine, he left to tend to another patient. When he stuck the needles in, I think he was aiming for a lobe of the brain near the back of my skull. Perhaps it works better that way? I told him I heard a ripping sound when he put the needle in, to which he replied, “Oh, that’s just the tissue. It was pretty tight there.”

Oh. That’s all.

Within a short period of time, Dr. Maxillofacial and his trusty sidekick return and get straight to business. I mean really. There was no time for pleasantries. I tried to ask a quick question, but they stuck their hands in my mouth and started to PULL.

Now, if you have never had this done, perhaps you are not aware of the force it takes to remove a tooth from its proper place. They are quite well entrenched in your head.

All of this happened so fast, I couldn’t really believe it. One moment I am at peace, alone in the nice quiet room, and the next there are two people with metal instruments stuck into my mouth pulling my head off!!! It was a bit disconcerting.

I felt the tooth begin to give way, and then it snapped, falling into my mouth. They quickly removed most of it (one piece was slippery enough to elude their recovery effort and found its way down my esophagus, to be dealt with at a later date.) After the initial break and quick clean up, he grabbed his power tools and started drilling. I have never… ever… EVER heard such a loud noise in my ear. It was incredible! Seriously loud, almost painful noise in my ear. I was not expecting that. Otherwise it was mostly painless.

The entire procedure was complete within only a few minutes – perhaps less. I was quickly sent on my way with post removal instructions and a cup with my tooth fragments in it to show to Ian upon my return home.

My wallet and head were a bit lighter, and I headed for home.

I am now one tooth less, and hopefully get to keep the rest. We shall see. 🙂

The hour is fast approaching when I shall bid farewell to a tooth whose end came far too soon. A mere 30 years, minus a few before popping out. But, now beyond hope, it must be removed from my head. And since this blog is called “Greg’s Head”… well, figured this tidbit was blog-worthy.

1:30pm today I get to see what it’s like to be one tooth less.

While cleaning out the car this morning I realized:

I really love to do things for other people, even at great cost to me… except when it’s expected.

(Do I need to work on that?) 🙂